Kathmandu, Jan 18: The Police on Tuesday evening rounded up four Indian nationals and their captive: a Chinese man managing a hotel in Thamel for the last seven years. Wu Huan Huan, was kidnapped by his unsuspecting clients, identified as 33-year-old Ashutosh Datreya Thorat, 40-year-old Ashraf Yunus Sheikh, 30-year-old Amol Kharmate, and 30-year-old Ambadas Srisat, all from Maharashtra.
The four had checked in on Monday night at the recommendation of his long-time friend, also a Chinese national, who was at the time in Bangkok.
The friend had requested Wu to host the visiting Indians on his behalf, and the hotel manager obliged, unaware of the high-voltage plot unfolding behind the scenes.
The four Indians had driven all the way from Maharashtra with a resolve: that they would kidnap the hotel manager if they did not get their money back.
Apparently, they had been scammed by the manager's friend in Bangkok.
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Around 1:30 pm on Tuesday afternoon, the hotel clients approached the manager to return their money. The manager had no idea about any money.
Nor did he know he would be lifted away by the gang of his four clients right away.
They dragged him out of the hotel and thrust him into a Kia Sorento with an Indian number plate, which whizzed past the Thamel area the next moment.
The onlookers were dumbfounded. The area was under CCTV cameras set by local businessmen. One of the witnesses dialed 100, the emergency contact for Nepal Police, and briefed the police of the incident.
The Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office (KVCIO) deployed a team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Anil Kumar Ghimire, who arrived at the crime scene around 3 pm.
DSP Ghimire checked the CCTV footage. The police disseminated the information to all the checkpoints on roads leading out of the valley.
Within the next 15 minutes, the police official on duty at the Pharping checkpoint team informed the investigation team about the vehicle passing through the point, heading towards Hetauda.
The team then devised a plan to intercept the vehicle from two ends: one team would tail the vehicle from Kathmandu while the other team from Makwanpur would create an ambush checkpoint along the Kulekhani-Hetaunda road section.
At around half-past four, the police team on standby at the Bhimphedi Police Office apprehended the vehicle. However, all passengers jumped out of the car and disappeared into the nearby forest.
Shortly afterwards, the police nabbed three of the kidnappers. The fourth and the Chinese were spotted at around 11 pm. Moments before being apprehended by the police, the two jumped off a cliff, police said.
While the Chinese national made it to the foot of the cliff and ran off, the Indian kidnapper got stuck midway off the cliff, in a bush. “Finally, we got hold of the fourth kidnapper," DSP Ghimire said.
The Chinese national, who was limping off towards the Pharping side, was taken under control in a while.
The police said they will press legal charges against the four Indian kidnappers.
